New Releases - 2/26/21

Hitting The Racks

Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's

New Releases

Architects – For Those That Wish To Exist LP+MP3/CD (Epitaph)

England-based post-metalcore quintet, Architects release their ninth studio record For Those That Wish To Exist. The self-produced album arrives as the follow-up to the band's critically acclaimed 2018 effort Holy Hell, which took a look at the pain and despair that lay at the heart of losing a brother, bandmate, and best friend in Tom Searle, the group's founding guitarist. On For Those That Wish To Exist, Architects examine the part we are all playing in the world's slow destruction, and tackle the biggest questions facing the future of our planet. The record's 15-tracks hang in a limbo between energizing positivity that it is not too late to correct our collective course, and a paralyzing negativity of defeatism; where hope and despondency are bedfellows triggered daily by the simple act of existence. A reflection of human condition, For Those That Wish To Exist calls for all of us to rise to challenge established models and strive for a collective betterment. [Limited indie store exclusive summer sky wave color vinyl.]

Atlin Gün – Yol LP/CD (ATO)

Altin Gün deliver their third album Yol, the full-length follow-up to the band's 2019 LP Gece, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best World Music Album. Fronted by vocalists Merve Dasdemir and Erdinç Ecevit, Altin Gün has won worldwide acclaim for their re-imaginings of traditional Turkish folk songs through the lens of pop and psych-rock. 2020's Coronavirus quarantine forced the band to write music in a completely new way, trading demos and ideas over email, and the resulting songs mark a new direction for the band as well, with a shift to a sleeker, synth driven Europop sound. Yol displays a noticeable dreaminess, maybe born from this enforced time to reflect. And select elements of late 1970s or early 1980s "Euro" synth pop also shine through. This new musical landscape was nurtured by certain instrument choices; namely the Omnichord, heard on "Arda Boylari", "Kara Toprak", and "Sevda Olmasaydi", and the drum-machine, an instrument that is key to the gorgeous closing number, "Esmerim Güzelim". [Limited indie store exclusive purple vinyl pressing.]

Julien Baker – Little Oblivions LP+MP3/CD (Matador)

Little Oblivions is the third studio album by Julien Baker. Recorded in Memphis, TN, the record weaves together unflinching autobiography with assimilated experience and hard-won observations from the past few years, taking Baker's capacity for storytelling to new heights. It also marks a sonic shift, with the songwriter's intimate piano and guitar arrangements newly enriched by bass, drums, keyboards, banjo, and mandolin with nearly all of the instruments performed by Baker.

Epica – Omega 2xLP/2xCD (Nuclear Blast)

Omega is the final part of the metaphysical trilogy from Dutch symphonic metal titans, and is their eighth album overall. “Structurally, we’re again on familiar ground with Omega, as the band sticks to the tradition of “filling every minute on a CD”, resulting on a 70+ minute album, and a rare occurrence for an artist these days. Half of the songs on the record have a title and a subtitle, a testament for the opulence and profound meaning behind each individual track. The band itself is better than ever, and the close bond between each member truly reflects on the overall feeling of the album. Production is once again top-notch, even surpassing previous outings, relaying once again on renowned producer Joost van den Broek, proving he is the perfect choice for the job, helping the band reach new heights with each release. It only gets better for Epica, album after album, and Omega is the living proof of that fact” – Sonic Perspectives. [Deluxe double-CD edition includes four bonus tracks. A limited green/blue swirl color vinyl pressing is also available.]

Glitterer – Life Is Not A Lesson LP+MP3 (ANTI-)

With roomier drums and more electric-guitars-per-square-inch than ever, Life Is Not A Lesson has a way of evoking an alternate-universe version of Guided By Voices, one with a hardcore-punk background.

Kinlaw – The Tipping Scale LP (Bayonet)

Clear vinyl pressing. The Tipping Scale is the definition of dark pop-it's an epiphany in a public space and an unraveling on the dancefloor. Kinlaw's unstoppable singing will guide you through an introspective and very strange dance party. A deafening debut, these are songs to move your body to.

Katy Kirby – Cool Dry Place LP/CD/Cassette (Keeled Scales)

Cool Dry Place is the debut full-length album from Texas-bred, Nashville-based indie rocker, Katy Kirby. The nine songs here are equal parts driving indie-pop and artful folk songwriting in the vein of Waxahatchee, Lucy Dacus, and Frankie Cosmos. Intimate, vulnerable lyrics give way to anthemic choruses, true earworm, and memorable vocal melodies. The songs are miscellaneous in subject (motherhood, late capitalism, disintegrating relationships), but unified by the angle from which they're told, from a person re-learning to process life with intense attention. Each song is a catalog of fragments, the number of segments in an orange or the cut of an obsessively worn shirt, distilled into meditations on the bizarre and microscopic exchanges that make up modern life - a relationship splintering, an uncomfortable pause, an understanding finally found. These emotional dioramas are moderated by the angular storytelling that unites Gillian Welch and Phoebe Bridgers, a favor for the conventions of short fiction over confession. [Limited-edition indie store only colored vinyl pressing]

Melvins – Working With God LP (Ipecac)

Working With God is the new studio album from the legendary Melvins featuring their 1983 line-up of Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover and original drummer Mike Dillard. Released along with new reissues of 2002's Hostile Ambient Takeover and 1987's Gluey Porch Treatments, Working With God follows this incarnation of Melvins’ 2013 album Tres Cabrones. One of the band's most playful and melodic efforts, the 13-track collection is introduced by "I F**k Around", a juvenile re-imagining of The Beach Boys' classic "I Get Around" and "Bouncing Rick", about Osborne and Dillard's junior-high biology teacher. "It's reflective of our 8th grade sense of humor, which we've never grown out of," Osborne said of "I Fuck Around." "We hope Brian Wilson doesn't get mad." [Vinyl reissues of Gluey Porch Treatments and Hostile Ambient Takeover are also available.]

Menahan Street Band – The Exciting Sounds Of Menahan Street Band CD/LP (Daptone/Dunham)

Menahan Street Band, a veritable supergroup of some of today's most prolific songwriters, arrangers, and producers return with this beat-forward, cinematic masterpiece. If you have spent any time hanging out in bars, cafes, or casually tuning into NPR in the last 10 years you should be well versed in MSB's catalog. Their unique brand of instrumental soul has not only been the foundation for some of modern hip-hop's most successful beats, it has also become the perennial soundtrack and veritable vibe-generator for countless parties, art shows, and restaurants throughout NYC and abroad. While this album carries the aesthetic torch that MSB has skillfully woven into the tapestry of their DNA, it also delves deeper into the experimental, exotic sounds that fill many of the coveted Sound Library and Soundtrack LPs of the late sixties and early seventies - an amalgamation of moog synths, electric pianos, drum machines, and a bevy of analog instrumentation, that ebb and flow in lush swells of Morriconian grandeur.

Mogwai – As The Love Continues 2xLP+MP3 (Temporary Residence)

Standard black vinyl edition now available. Mogwai has advanced without a plan since they were teenagers; there have been no secretive meetings to work out the master plan. It is rare to hear a band that has been going for this long and have this many albums behind them – ten records in and still no disappointments or mistaken creative left turns. You may know what to expect, but you will never get the same. Both transcendent and surprising, As The Love Continues shows that Mogwai are still offering solace from the mundane, supplying the soundtrack to whatever movie you are making in your head. Produced by Dave Fridmann the album features contributions from Atticus Ross ("Midnight Flit") and Colin Stetson ("Pat Stains") and arrives almost exactly 25 years after the release of the Mogwai's debut single, "Tuner" b/w "Lower." [Indie exclusive yellow vinyl.]

Willie Nelson – That’s Life LP/CD (Legacy/Sony)

Honoring the enduring inspiration of Frank Sinatra, That's Life is Willie Nelson's second album of classics made famous by The Chairman Of The Board. Willie's first ode to Frank, 2018's My Way, earned Willie the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Solo Album, and That's Life finds Nelson (who has penned a few standards himself) inhabiting 11 more of the most treasured songs in the Great American Songbook including the title track, "Luck Be A Lady", "Nice Work If You Can Get It", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "You Make Me Feel So Young", and "I Won't Dance" (a duet featuring Diana Krall). These performances come alive in a musical landscape animated by lush string and vibrant horn arrangements. The That's Life album cover features a brand-new painting of Willie and his iconic guitar, Trigger, standing in the glow of a twilight streetlamp, evoking classic Sinatra album covers of yore.

Oceanator – Things I Never Said CD (Polyvinyl)

Oceanator's debut full-length, Things I Never Said, sees NYC multi-instrumentalist Elise Okusami hyperbolically equating early adulthood malaise with apocalyptic destruction. The type of anxieties that form when thoughts bottle up and stress gets the best of you. Throughout the record, allusions to intrusive thoughts and depression-induced stasis are weaved in between references to falling skies, rolling fires, and the possibility of the world literally falling apart. However, while Okusami's emotional and physical solitude makes for a resilient foe, Things I Never Said is ultimately a record about finding comfort in the face of destruction, whether it be through appreciating the little things or forming a bond with someone you can mutually confide in about mental afflictions. There's no concrete resolution to the album, but rather a vital reminder that love and friendship, both with others and herself, will always reign victorious in our darkest moments.

Bones Owens – Bones Owens LP/CD (Blank Ranch)

The self-titled, full-length debut from Bones Owens is a selection of songs both gloriously gritty and undeniably euphoric. In a bold departure from the moody Americana of his acclaimed EPs Hurt No One and Make Me No King, the Missouri-bred musician's new release delivers a powerful sound deeply inspired by '60s garage-rock, Hill Country blues, and the swampy roots-rock of bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival ("the first record I remember stealing from my dad when I was ten and just starting to play guitar," according to Owens). A potent showcase for his formidable guitar work – a talent he's displayed in performing with artists as eclectic as Yelawolf and Mikky Ekko – Bones Owens arrives as a full-tilt expression of Owens' wildest impulses, all swinging rhythms, and swaggering riffs. Free iron-on patch while supplies last.

Wesley Schultz – Vignettes LP/CD (Dualtone Music Group)

Vignettes sees Wesley Schultz, the Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter-guitarist and co-founder of The Lumineers exploring his myriad influences and early inspirations with a series of starkly beautiful cover versions spanning such legendary artists as Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Sheryl Crow, Jim Croce, Derek and the Dominos, and Warren Zevon.

Lucy Spraggan – Choices CD (Cooking Vinyl)

It has been twelve months since singer-songwriter Lucy Spraggan chose to get sober, and life has changed a lot for the English singer/songwriter as a result. In fact, the present-day Lucy Spraggan is, in a multitude of ways, unrecognizable from the person of yesteryear. Control - both relinquishing it and taking it back - plus rediscovering oneself, is a recurring theme of the past year and Spraggan's new album Choices. Aptly named, the songs that comprise the collection offer insight and introspection that saw her let go of alcohol, embrace exercise and a healthier lifestyle, move onwards through a divorce and find solace in its wake. Needless to say, it may have been necessary, but it was by no means easy. In conclusion, "it's really just been an enlightening thing." [Vinyl edition due March 26.]

Pauline Anna Strom – Angel Tears In Sunlight LP (RVNG Int’l)

Angel Tears In Sunlight is Pauline Anna Strom's first album in over thirty years; an assemblage of music that refracts the expansiveness, and minutiae, of imagined realms while embracing the kaleidoscopic echoes of our distant epochs. The capacity to collapse time might elucidate the enigma of Pauline Anna Strom. A mystic force in music, emerging during the dawn of new age as the Trans-Millenia Consort, the pioneering synthesist channeled primordial energies into future-facing sound through a series of full-length releases between 1982 and 1988.

Terminal Bliss – Brute Err/Ata LP (Relapse)

A veritable who's who of Virginia punk, Terminal Bliss features vocalist Chris Taylor and guitarist Mike Taylor (Pg. 99 and Pygmy Lush), drummer Ryan Parrish (Darkest Hour, Iron Reagan, City of Caterpillar) and bassist Adam Juresko (City of Caterpillar). The band is inspired by the likes of Born Against, Gauze and Void – not to mention Black Flag, Crass, Negative Approach, Disrupt, Necros, Crossed Out and Disclose.

Adrian Younge – The American Negro CD (Jazz Is Dead)

“The American Negro is an unapologetic critique, detailing the systemic and malevolent psychology that afflicts people of color. This project dissects the chemistry behind blind racism, using music as the medium to restore dignity and self-worth to my people. It should be evident that any examination of black music is an examination of the relationship between black and white America. This relationship has shaped the cultural evolution of the world and its negative roots run deep into our psyche.” Featuring various special guests performing over a deeply soulful, elaborate orchestration, The American Negro reinvents the black native tongue through this album and its attendant short film (TAN) and four-part podcast (invisible Blackness). The American Negro - both as a collective experience and as individual expressions - is insightful, provocative and inspiring and should land at the center of our ongoing reckoning with race, racism and the writing of the next chapter of American history. [Vinyl edition due May 7.]

Reissues, Compilations, Live Recordings & Vault Excavations...

The Black Crowes – Shake Your Money Maker: 2020 Remaster LP/2xCD (American)

Digitally remastered edition of the debut studio album by rock band The Black Crowes, which was originally released on February 13, 1990 on Def American Recordings. It is the only album by the band to feature guitarist Jeff Cease. [The expanded double-CD edition includes the original album, remastered; three never-before-heard studio recordings; and two unreleased demos from the band's early incarnation as Mr. Crowe's Garden; and B-sides. The Super deluxe three-CD and four-vinyl LP editions are due March 19.]

Ray Charles and Ray Charles And the Count Basie Orchestra – The Best Of Ray Charles: The Atlantic Years 2xLP (Atlantic)

Double blue color vinyl pressing of the 1994 compilation featuring Charles’ Atlantic era hits such as “What'd I Say”, “The Right Time”, and “I've Got A Woman”.

Deftones – White Pony: 20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition 4xLP+2xCD (WB)

To mark the 20th anniversary of their 2000 alt-metal opus, White Pony, Deftones reissue the album with a companion disc of remixes titled Black Stallion. The collection features an eclectic cast of contributors that reflects White Pony's far-reaching impact across the worlds of metal, hip-hop, indie, and electronic music. The first taste of Black Stallion is a reimagining of "Knife Prty" by synth-pop mavericks Purity Ring. Other remixers include icons like Robert Smith of The Cure, DJ Shadow, and Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park alongside genre-bending heavyweights: dark-pop favorites Phantogram, electronic experimentalist Squarepusher, beatsmith Clams Casino, renowned record producer Salva and noise artist Blanck Mass, to name just a few.

Bob Dylan – 1970 3xCD (Legacy/Sony)

74 previously unreleased studio recordings from 1970, most taken from the sessions for the New Morning and Self Portrait albums. Also included are the nine songs from Dylan’s legendary recording session with George Harrison.

Fleetwood Mac – Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac [Reissue/1968] LP (Blue Horizon)
Fleetwood Mac – Mr. Wonderful [Reissue/1968] LP (Blue Horizon)
Fleetwood Mac – Pious Bird Of Good Omen [Reissue/1969] LP (Blue Horizon)

Vinyl reissues of the first two albums by Fleetwood Mac, back when they were a British blues rock band, and prior to their becoming one of the biggest pop/rock bands in the world in the mid- ‘70s/’80s. 1969’s The Pious Bird Of Good Omen consists of their first four non-album UK

singles and their B-sides, two other tracks from their previous two albums, and two tracks by the blues artist Eddie Boyd with backing by members of Fleetwood Mac.

PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea – Demos CD/LP (Island)

A collection of unreleased demos of every track written for the fifth PJ Harvey studio album Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, including demos of “Good Fortune”, “A Place Called Home” and “This Is Love”. Audio has been mastered by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering under the guidance of longtime PJ Harvey collaborator Head. Features brand new artwork with previously unseen photos by Maria Mochnacz. [Stand-alone vinyl reissue of Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea is also back in print on vinyl.]

Jefferson Airplane ‎– Surrealistic Pillow [Reissue/1967] LP (Legacy/Sony)
Jefferson Airplane ‎– Volunteers [Reissue/1969] LP (Legacy/Sony)
Jefferson Airplane ‎– The Worst Of Jefferson Airplane [Reissue/1970] LP (Legacy/Sony)

180gm remastered vinyl reissues. Jefferson Airplane formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay area during the summit of the counterculture that swept the country, and soon became a household name with appearances on radio, television, and top selling albums. They recorded hit singles such as “White Rabbit”, “Volunteers”, “Embryonic Journey” and “Somebody To Love” and smash albums such as Volunteers, Surrealistic Pillow, Bark and Takes Off. Their first compilation album, The Worst Of Jefferson Airplane, includes the band's hits up to 1970.

Chaka Khan – Epiphany: The Best Of Chaka Khan LP (Rhino)

Limited burgundy colored vinyl pressing of the 1996 compilation from the soul/R&B icon. Includes her hits “I'm Every Woman”, “I Feel For You”, and “Through The Fire”.

Lilys - A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns LP (Frontier Records)

A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns is completely unlike any other Lilys album: instantly catchy and concise. These recordings, made in Philadelphia between 1993-4, present what Kurt Heasley, Lilys' frontman, founder, and sole constant member, terms as "a maximum listen, that properly represents the transitional phase" between the 1992 Slumberland Lilys debut In the Presence of Nothing and 1995's Eccsame the Photon Band (both reissued by Frontier Records in 2015). The opening guitar riff and drums of "Ginger" became widely recognized in the mid-nineties through use in the notorious CK1 Commercial, as part of Calvin Klein's Unisex fragrance ad campaign, once playing constantly on late night TV in the USA. "Ginger" has even been touted as the first Indie rock song ever used in corporate advertising.

Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold [Reissue/2012] LP (What’s Your Rupture)
Parquet Courts – Sunbathing Animal [Reissue/2014] LP (What’s Your Rupture)

Limited translucent sea blue/green repress. Little was said about Parquet Courts' debut effort, American Specialties. Released exclusively on cassette tape in 2011, the quasi-album was an odd collection of four-track recordings that left those who were paying attention wanting more. A year of woodshedding live sets passed before the Courts committed another song to tape. The band's first proper LP, 2012's Light Up Gold, is a dynamic and diverse foray into the back alleys of the American DIY underground. Bright guitars swirl serpentine over looping, groovy post-punk bass lines and drums that border on robotic precision. [2014’s Sunbathing Animal has also been repressed and is available on glow-in-the-dark vinyl.]

Marika Politissa ‎– All Parts Dark LP (Mississippi)

Marika Politissa Frantzeskopoulou was a Greek singer from Constantinople, renowned for her precise, fluid and graceful performances and depth of feeling. Backed by some of the best musicians of the era on lyra, violin, oud, kanonaki and guitar, Marika's repertoire and techniques drew from Byzantine and Ottoman musical traditions.

Spinners – The Best Of Spinners [Reissue/1979] LP (Friday Music)

180gm translucent gold color vinyl pressing. In 1979, superstar R&B veterans Spinners were rewarded by their label Atlantic Records with their first greatest hits album simply titled The Best Of Spinners. Featuring the classic line-up of the Phillipe Soul Wynn, Henry Fambrough, Pervis Jackson, Bobbie Smith and Billy Henderson, these Detroit superstars ruled the charts for many soulful years.

Various Artists - Colemine Records Presents: Brighter Days Ahead 2xLP (Colemine)

From label owner Terry Cole, "It was on March 16, 2020 that we closed up our storefront as the reality of a worldwide pandemic began to spread across the Midwest. We had no idea how it was going to impact our shop, our label, or the artists we represent. We were all fortunate to have our family members stay safe and healthy; however, the livelihood of many of our friends and artists were drastically and immediately impacted. No tours, no live performances, record shops closed, pressing plants shut down, etc. And while the level of uncertainty was unnerving, from that uncertainty came the idea for Brighter Days Ahead. We knew we wanted to continue to release new music, but proceeding with our heavy 2020 release schedule as planned seemed ill advised. So the idea was to release individual tracks from many of our artists on a weekly basis and as a musical family, we could all help shine light on each individual artist weekly. Strength in numbers! So throughout the summer and into the fall, that's what we did. We released several dozen tracks and the weekly announcements certainly garnered a strong sense of community for our artists and fans alike. We're very proud to present Brighter Days Ahead: a compilation from our talented stable of artists on both our Colemine and Karma Chief imprints."

Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Way Down In The Rust Bucket (Live At The Catalyst, 1990) 2xCD/4xLP/4xLP+2xCD+DVD (WB)

Recorded on November 13, 1990 in Santa Cruz, Way Down In The Rust Bucket represents one of the most significant and storied shows of Neil Young's fabled career. Staged just after the release of Ragged Glory – the striking album that preceded and influenced the impending explosion of similarly energetic, distortion-addled rock that became known as grunge and changed the face of popular music – the set finds Young pairing with his longtime cohorts in Crazy Horse and turning in a marathon performance for the ages. Intended as a loose rehearsal for an arena tour at the Catalyst Club, a venue whose intimate confines only seems to stoke the band's energy, passion, and enthusiasm (not to mention its connection with the audience), it is the stuff of legend. [Deluxe edition contains both vinyl and CD formats as well as a DVD of the entire concert directed by Bernard Shakey, including one extremely memorable and exclusive cut: a 13-minute version of "Cowgirl In The Sand" not on the CD or LP versions.]